A review: Indian innovations in millet-based extruded products

Abstract

Millets are an important crop for most of them of farmers with small land holdings in terms of agricultural practices, health and nutritional security, and climate change. These days, many prefer extruded snacks over conventional ones, especially when they are ready to consume. Most commercially available snacks are mostly made of cereal, which is a decent source of carbs but deficient in protein and other minerals like iron. For this reason, it's critical to change the ingredients used to produce snacks in order to provide balanced nutrients like minerals and protein. Millets are the least priced and highest protein grain, thus using them will address this problem. Thus, an endeavour was made to develop a snack based on millet by combining several types of millets, such as sorghum, oats, and green gramme, and investigating the characteristics of these millets. Extrusion is a versatile, cutting-edge technique that has the ability to significantly alter how food ingredients work in order to improve digestibility and sensory quality. The food enterprise, scientists, and processors/consumers may select the optimal processing technique to maximise nutritional content, increase nutrient bioavailability, and support nutrition security by having a better understanding of how processing impacts millets' nutrient content. In this study, we focus on recent developments in the production of millet and pulse-based extruded foods. Additionally, the use of extruded flours as novel, environmentally friendly ingredients-such as hydrocolloids and fat substitutes-as well as for the creation of gluten-free, phenolic-rich, low-glycemic, and functional meals has been examined.